The Grizzled Mighty/Wednesday, February 15

The Grizzled Mighty is a blues-rock duo with a female drummer—Whitney Petty, formerly of Deerhunter—who plays simple, bare-bones beats, and a frontman, Ryan Granger, whose guitar work and vocals are raw and distorted. Anyone who’s been paying attention to rock over the past 10 years can tell where this is going, but White Stripes comparisons don’t entirely hold up. On their self-titled debut album, The Grizzled Mighty instead recalls the early work of the Black Keys, lacking the pop sensibilities that graced White Stripes songs like “Fell in Love With a Girl” but making up for it with a hard-nosed punk edge. In short, The Grizzled Mighty play gritty, garage-leaning rock—a sound with plenty of referents besides Jack White—and play it well. With Sundries, Mystery Ship. Tractor Tavern, 5231 Ballard Ave. N.W., 789-3599. 9 p.m. $6. ANDREW GOSPE

Phalgeron/Thursday, February 16

When it comes to local black metal, few ensembles are grimmer or more monstrous than Phalgeron. Roaring guitars, earsplitting drums, and dueling black- and death-metal vocals—from Tyler Splurgis and Lane Storli, respectively—coalesce into the Seattle trio’s thunderous sound. The metal quotient is maximized tonight as the band is joined by comrades-in-arms Shaded Enmity, Sacrament Ov Impurity, Royalty in Ruins, and Deathbeat. It’s sure to be a neck-breaking evening of headbanging and whirlwinds, drenched in the evening’s cheapest beer. El Corazon, 109 Eastlake Ave. E., 262-0482. 7:30 p.m. $8 adv./ $10 DOS. All ages. LAURA SWARTZ

Buck 65/Friday, February 17

Nova Scotian Richard Terfry is an unlikely figure in hip-hop. He was raised in a rural setting and heralded as the next great Yankee shortstop before his baseball career was cut short by a shoulder injury. On record, Terfry has always spun his personal experiences into semi-self-referential poetry, and his lyrics frequently touch on both baseball and his former country way of life, accentuated by his mock-cowboy rasp. Now a seasoned veteran on the indie-rap circuit, he most recently released 20 Odd Years, an album which features left-field collaborations from a number of non-hip-hop artists (notably Mister Heavenly/Islands frontman Nick Thorburn); although his delivery is still as stop-start as ever, it’s some of his better work. Though his collaborators probably won’t all be in tow tonight, his sizable cult following should be, so grab a ticket ahead of time. With Busdriver, Metal Chocolates, Sadistik. Tractor Tavern, 5213 Ballard Ave. N.W., 789-3599. 9:30 p.m. $15. TODD HAMM

Damien Jurado/Friday, February 17

Few artists capture the Pacific Northwest’s piercing light, haunting shadows, and brooding, moody stillness as masterfully as Damien Jurado. For 17 years, he’s humbly churned out stark but sweeping masterpieces that have rarely risen above a dull roar, but whose ripples can be felt for miles around. On his 10th full-length album, Maraqopa (out Feb. 21), Jurado gracefully slides away from sparse, somber folk arrangements to incorporate lusher, more diverse sounds. Maraqopa finds Jurado expanding his wingspan with quiet confidence, bringing spaced-out psychedelia and the atmospheric ramble of Ennio Morricone’s high-lonesome spaghetti-Western soundtracks into his sonic fold. With Gold Leaves, Bryan John Appleby. Neptune, 1303 N.E. 45th St., 877-784-4849. 9 p.m. $15. All ages. GREGORY FRANKLIN

Anvil/Saturday, February 18

I’m not a big sports fan, but when I find myself watching a game, I often root for the underdog. Seeing Anvil! The Story of Anvil, director (and former roadie) Sacha Gervasi’s 2009 documentary about a beloved but down-on-their-luck Canadian metal band, extracted a similar emotional response: Here’s a group who toured with Bon Jovi, Whitesnake, and the Scorpions in the early ’80s and influenced everyone from Metallica to Anthrax, but who despite all their heart, stamina, and big hair never achieved a similar lasting success. Their 14th LP, Juggernaut of Justice, was released last year, and while it hardly captures the one-two punch of 1982’s Metal on Metal or 1983’s Forged in Fire—widely considered their best—the thought that the band’s back on the road, rocking out and making the music they love, brings a bit of mist to the eye. With Vultures 2012, Skelator, Motorthrone, Dominus Sabbata. El Corazon, 109 Eastlake Ave. E., 262-0482. 8:30 p.m. $15 adv./$20 DOS. GWENDOLYN ELLIOTT

Big Head Todd & the Monsters/Saturday, February 18

Big Head Todd recently released a Robert Johnson tribute album, but it’s another Johnson—Jack—who owes the bulk of his success to Todd Park Mohr & co. The imposing Korean frontman proved that it was possible to be a collegiate smooth-jam fave without having to send one’s guitar into elongated fits of acid-soaked noodling. Along with the Samples and Dave Matthews, Big Head Todd epitomized the safer, fleece-vested sector of the ’90s groove-tune scene, leaving the serious degenerates to tour with the Dead and Phish. There once was a time when seeing Big Head Todd play a venue as intimate as the Neptune would have been a real coup. Yet there’s no real reason that time can’t be now, as “Bittersweet” still sounds more sweet than bitter. With Roger Clyne. Neptune, 1303 N.E. 45th St., 877-784-4849. 9 p.m. $27.50. All ages. MIKE SEELY

The Fresh and Onlys/Sunday, February 19

The Fresh and Onlys are part of a closely connected faction of rock bands burning bright in San Francisco right now that includes Thee Oh Sees, Sonny and the Sunsets, the Sub Pop–signed Kelley Stoltz, and the Hardly Art–signed Sandwitches, all of whom draw influences from raw ’60s garage pop and freewheeling psychedelia. The four-piece releases recordings in a prolific stream; their latest is last year’s Secret Walls EP, brooding and thickened with walls of reverb. Their music sometimes hints at folk with its loose and languid melodies, but later this year they’ll release a new full-length that will break another mold by including what the band’s bassist calls “Nashville-tuned guitar[s].” With Disappears, Grave Babies. Chop Suey, 1325 E. Madison St., 324-8005. 8 p.m. $10. ERIN K. THOMPSON

Spaceneedles/Sunday, February 19

If all the 2011 grunge-anniversary nonsense made you a little sick to your stomach, who can blame you? The movement that changed this town for better or worse (depending on whom you talk to) and then spawned a million terrible imitators certainly has its share of detractors. Perhaps the biggest beef with the scene was that it hasn’t really been properly rebooted by a new generation—ours. Spaceneedles may change that. A tight outfit including members of Feral Children and Grand Archives, these kids understand their flannel-clad legacy but take it to a fresher, sexier, more inspired place, keeping it simultaneously heavy and easy on the ears. With Pony Time, Slow Dance. Cha Cha, 1013 E. Pike St., 322-0703. 9 p.m. Free with donation. MA’CHELL DUMA LAVASSAR

Die Antwoord/Monday, February 20

Hipster Runoff once called Animal Collective “a band created for/by/on the Internet,” but that distinction might be more appropriate for Die Antwoord. The South African hip-hop group emerged into the Internet’s collective consciousness in early 2010 when its video for “Enter the Ninja” began to go viral. The clip introduced the world to Ninja, Yo-Landi Vi$$er, and DJ Hi-Tek’s “next-level beats,” but from Ninja’s white trash/Vanilla Ice aesthetic to Yo-Landi’s pixieish vocals, it all seemed like an elaborate joke. But it wasn’t: The group went on to score a record deal, though its most recent album, Ten$ion, was self-released. It’s this combination of cheekiness and ability (Ninja, the MC, is a veteran in the South African hip-hop community) that makes Die Antwoord so interesting; if tonight’s show lives up to the videos that vaulted the group to success, it’ll be a spectacle worth getting up from your PC to check out. Showbox at the Market, 1426 First Ave., 628-3151. 8 p.m. Sold out. All ages. ANDREW GOSPE

***EDITOR’S PICK

Grimes/Monday, February 20

This Canadian vocalist/keyboardist, aka 23-year-old Claire Boucher, came through Seattle a couple of times last year as a opener for fellow synth princesses Lykke Li and Austra. This time she’s headlining in anticipation of her first full-length album. After releasing three EPs with Montreal indie label Arbutus Records, Grimes signed a deal with 4AD, which will put out Visions Feb. 21. Via Twitter, Grimes rejoiced over 4AD’s Cocteau Twins connection, saying “goth is sick,” but her gorgeously ecstatic new single, “Genesis,” is actually brighter and bubblier than her previous chilly, moody material; with its scintillating synth rhythms and sparkling beats, it’s positively euphoria-inducing. With Born Gold, USF. Sunset Tavern, 5433 Ballard Ave. N.W., 784-4880. 9:30 p.m. $8 adv./$10 DOS. ERIN K. THOMPSON